Convention on
the Unification of Certain Points of Substantive Law on Patents for Invention,
(ETS No. 47), entered into force August 1, 1980.

The member States of the Council
of Europe, signatory hereto,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater
unity between its members for the purpose, among others, of facilitating
their economic and social progress by agreements and common action in economic,
social, cultural, scientific, legal and administrative matters;
Considering that the unification of certain points of substantive law on
patents for invention is likely to assist industry and inventors, to promote
technical progress and contribute to the creation of an international patent;
Having regard to Article 15 of the Convention for the Protection of Industrial
Property signed at Paris on 20th March 1883, revised at Brussels on 14th
December 1900, at Washington on 2nd June 1911, at The Hague on 6th November
1925, at London on 2nd June 1934 and at Lisbon on 31st October 1958,
Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

In the Contracting States, patents
shall be granted for any inventions which are susceptible of industrial
application, which are new and which involve an inventive step. An invention
which does not comply with these conditions shall not be the subject of
a valid patent. A patent declared invalid because the invention does not
comply with these conditions shall be considered invalid ab initio.

Article 2

The Contracting States shall
not be bound to provide for the grant of patents in respect of:

inventions the publication
or exploitation of which would be contrary to ordre public or morality,
provided that the exploitation shall not be deemed to be so contrary merely
because it is prohibited by a law or regulation;

plant or animal varieties
or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals;
this provision does not apply to micro-biological processes and the products
thereof.

Article 3

An invention shall be considered
as susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any
kind of industry including agriculture.

Article 4

An invention shall be considered
to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art.

Subject to the provisions of
paragraph 4 of this article, the state of the art shall be held to comprise
everything made available to the public by means of a written or oral description,
by use, or in any other way, before the date of the patent application or
of a foreign application, the priority of which is validly claimed.

Any Contracting State may consider
the contents of applications for patents made, or of patents granted, in
that State, which have been officially published on or after the date referred
to in paragraph 2 of this article, as comprised in the state of the art,
to the extent to which such contents have an earlier priority date.

A patent shall not be refused
or held invalid by virtue only of the fact that the invention was made public,
within six months preceding the filing of the application, if the disclosure
was due to, or in consequence of:

an evident abuse in relation
to the applicant or his legal predecessor, or

the fact that the applicant
or his legal predecessor has displayed the invention at official, or officially
recognised, international exhibitions falling within the terms of the
Convention on international exhibitions signed at Paris on 22nd November
1928 and amended on 10th May 1948.

Article 5

An invention shall be considered
as involving an inventive step if it is not obvious having regard to the
state of the art. However, for the purposes of considering whether or not
an invention involves an inventive step, the law of any Contracting State
may, either generally or in relation to particular classes of patents or
patent applications, for example patents of addition, provide that the state
of the art shall not include all or any of the patents or patent applications
mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 4.

Article 6

Any Contracting State which
does not apply the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 4 shall nevertheless
provide that no invention shall be validly protected in so far as it includes
matter which is or has been validly protected by a patent in that State
which, though not comprised in the state of the art, has, in respect of
that matter, an earlier priority date.

Article 7

Any group of Contracting States
who provide for a common patent application may be regarded as a single
State for the purposes of paragraph 3 of Article 4, or of Article 6.

Article 8

The patent application shall
contain a description of the invention with the necessary drawings referred
to therein and one or more claims defining the protection applied for.

The description must disclose
the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried
out by a person skilled in the art.

The extent of the protection
conferred by the patent shall be determined by the terms of the claims.
Nevertheless, the description and drawings shall be used to interpret the
claims.

Article 9

This Convention shall be open
for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe. It shall be
subject to ratification or acceptance. Instruments of ratification or acceptance
shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

This Convention shall enter
into force three months after the date of deposit of the eighth instrument
of ratification or acceptance.

In respect of a signatory State
ratifying or accepting subsequently, the Convention shall come into force
three months after the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification
or acceptance.

Article
10

After the entry into force
of this Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
may invite any member of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial
Property which is not a member of the Council of Europe to accede thereto.

Such accession shall be effected
by depositing with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe an instrument
of accession which shall take effect three months after the date of its
deposit.

Article
11

Any Contracting Party may,
at the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification,
acceptance or accession, specify the territory or territories to which this
Convention shall apply.

Any Contracting Party may,
when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession
or at any later date, by notification addressed to the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe, extend this Convention to any other territory
or territories specified in the declaration and for whose international
relations it is responsible or on whose behalf it is authorised to give
undertakings.

Any declaration made in pursuance
of the preceding paragraph may, in respect of any territory mentioned in
such declaration, be withdrawn according to the procedure laid down in Article
13 of this Convention.

Article
12

Notwithstanding anything in
this Convention, each Contracting Party may, at the time of signature or
when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or accession,
temporarily reserve, for the limited period stated below, the right:

not to provide for the grant
of patents in respect of food and pharmaceutical products, as such, and
agricultural or horticultural processes other than those to which paragraph
b of Article 2 applies;

to grant valid patents for
inventions disclosed within the six months preceding the filing of the
application, either, apart from the case referred to in paragraph 4.b
of Article 4, by the inventor himself, or, apart from the case referred
to in paragraph 4.a of Article 4, by a third party as a result of information
derived from the inventor.

The limited period referred
to in paragraph 1 of this article shall be ten years in the case of sub-paragraph
a and five years in the case of sub-paragraph b. It shall start from the
entry into force of this Convention for the Contracting Party considered.

Any Contracting Party which
makes a reservation under this article shall withdraw the said reservation
as soon as circumstances permit. Such withdrawal shall be made by notification
addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and shall take
effect one month from the date of receipt of such notification.

Article
13

This Convention shall remain
in force indefinitely.

Any Contracting Party may,
in so far as it is concerned, denounce this Convention by means of a notification
addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

Such denunciation shall take
effect six months after the date of receipt by the Secretary General of
such notification.

Article
14

The Secretary General of the
Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the Council, any State
which has acceded to this Convention and the Director of the International
Bureau for the Protection of Industrial Property of:

any signature;

any deposit of an instrument
of ratification, acceptance or accession;

any date of entry into force
of this Convention;

any declaration and notification
received in pursuance of the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article
11;

any reservation made in pursuance
of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 12;

the withdrawal of any reservation
carried out in pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 12;

any notification received
in pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 13 and the date
on which denunciation takes effect.

In witness whereof the undersigned,
being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Convention.
Done at Strasbourg, this 27th day of November 1963, in English and in French,
both texts being equally authoritative, in a single copy which shall remain
deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary General
shall transmit certified copies to each of the signatory and acceding States
and to the Director of the International Bureau for the Protection of Industrial
Property.